Ultimate Tahoe Summer Bucket List

As we welcome in the warming and longer days of the season in the Tahoe Sierra, we’ve put together our annual summer fun guide – the Ultimate Tahoe Summer Bucket List.
This year marks our 11th year of putting together our picks for this summer’s must-do fun list. I challenged myself this year to not repeat anything on last year’s list and I did it (with the exception that I put golf on this year’s list again – there are 44 courses in the region after all.)
We have information on nearly all of the items on the bucket list at TheTahoeWeekly.com. Just go to the search bar and enter any item and you’ll find information. For those items we haven’t covered yet, we’ll be writing features on all of these fun activities (it’s a hard job).
Check trail conditions before going out as snow at higher elevations will linger into June. Lake Tahoe and other waterways are extremely cold from snowmelt and therefore dangerous. Stay close to shore during water activities and wear a life vest. It only takes minutes for hyperthermia to set it.

Alpenglow Mountain Festival Yoga | Courtesy Blair Lockhart

Explore Tahoe1. Stay at the Sierra Club’s historic Clair Tappaan Lodge.
2. Take a full moon hike or kayak tour. They are listed in Wet ‘n’ Dirty.
3. Take in the show during the Perseid Meteor Shower from Aug. 11 to 13. Find a spot to lie down and wait.4. Freefall at 120 mph.
5. Enjoy yoga on the beach. It doesn’t get much better.
6. Go bird watching with Tahoe Institute for Natural Science.
7. Golf at the Tahoe City Golf Course. It’s 100 years old this year, so this is a must.
8. Book a tee time at one of the region’s 44 public courses. Don’t worry, we have all of the details in our annual Golf Guide at TheTahoeWeekly.com.
9. Jump in the lake like you did when you were a kid.
10. Chill at Grover Hot Springs.
11. Listen to the sounds of Jody Sweet busking on the streets of Truckee.
12. Explore the night sky with Tahoe Star Tours.
13. Tee off at Tahoe’s disc golf courses.
14. Learn how to grow vegetables in the Tahoe Sierra.
15. Go in search of Monkey Rock off the Flume Trail.
16. Smell a tree. Jeffrey pines smell like butterscotch. Make a game of it.
17. Shop local. Our small businesses rely on you, so spend freely.
18. Take only pictures. Leave the rocks & flowers. They belong to everyone.
19. Pick up litter.

Swim in the lakesSure, there’s Big Blue, but how about some of Tahoe’s other lakes:
67. Donner Lake with great beaches on both ends.
68. The Reservoirs – Boca, Stampede & Prosser.
69. Independence Lake north of Truckee.
70. Explore the lakes of Desolation Wilderness. There’s 87 named lakes. This will take a while.
71. OK, that’s a lot, we know. How about some of our favorite swimming holes in Desolation to start: Dicks Lake, Middle Velma, Fontanillis, Half Moon, Crag, Stony Ridge and what can be the best of all, Lake Aloha.
72. Loch Leven Lakes west of Donner Summit.
73. Paradise Lake north of Donner Summit.
74. Showers Lake on the Tahoe Rim Trail.
75. Star Lake at 9,200’ is the highest elevation lake in the region.
76. Go skinny dipping at the East Shore’s nude beaches.
77. Take a dip in the Potholes near Kirkwood.

Cascade Falls

It’s a dog’s life78. In case you haven’t noticed, dogs enjoy a special place of honor in Tahoe. If your brought Fido on vacation, then take him with you on your adventures (just be sure dogs are allowed).
79. Pamper your dog. Belly rubs, back massages, ear rubs. Come on, they deserve it.
80. Take your dog on a hike.
81. Take your dog swimming. We have a list of dog-friendly beaches at TheTahoeWeekly.com.
82. Teach your dog to go kayaking or stand-up paddleboard with you. It takes patience and lots of treats.
83. Enjoy the dog parks in Tahoe City, North Tahoe Regional Park in Tahoe Vista or Bijou Community Park in South Lake Tahoe.
84. Bag it out. Seriously. And, that means packing it out of the back-country, too. There are no magic forest gnomes picking up those doggie bags on the trails.

Sample the fare92. Sample the local brews. Then take a growler with you.
93. How many local breweries can you visit?
94. Or, if wine is more your style, enjoy a flight from one of our knowledge wine purveyors.
95. Visit the farmers market. We have eight in the Tahoe Sierra.
96. Buy a fruit or vegetable that you’ve never tried before. When all else fails, grill it.
97. Forage for mushrooms (but only if you know how to identify them).
98. Try a locally made creation from coffee roasted in the Tahoe Sierra, to housemade ice cream at Little Truckee Ice Creamery, to the honey made in Tahoe from Harmony Honey Co.
99. Make your own Tahoe tea. We have the details at TheTahoeWeekly.com.

The Arts, The Music, The Events100. Summer in the Tahoe Sierra is jam packed with events, festivals, wine walks, brew fests, live music, free outdoor concerts, Shakespeare at Sand Harbor, music festivals, yoga festivals and the list goes on. It’s so much stuff, we have a guide just for all of it. Look for our summer guide Tahoe Music, Events & Festivals out June 7.

Katherine first moved to Tahoe in 1998 and has been in love with the Tahoe Sierra region since. She has been in the journalism field for more than 25 years and has worked for daily and weekly newspapers and magazines, as well as online publications and Web sites, as an award-winning writer and editor. In the fall of 2013, Katherine became only the third owner of the Tahoe Weekly magazine, and today serves as its Publisher and Editor In Chief. She currently serves as the President of the Tahoe City Downtown Association and is a member of the North Tahoe Regional Advisory Council and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Commission.